NASCAR's Preseason Top 25

Brad Keselowski ended the 2012 season on top of the NASCAR world, having beaten five-time champion Jimmie Johnson for the Sprint Cup championship.

Clint Bowyer, Kasey Kahne and Dale Earnhardt Jr. also had surprisingly good seasons.

But the game has changed in 2013. A brand-new Sprint Cup car — the Gen-6 — has every Sprint Cup team starting over. Some teams will adapt to it quicker than others. Some drivers will like it, some won’t.

The new car is NASCAR’s biggest change in six years and it could shake up the field.

Who will emerge as the drivers to beat this season? And will we see another new Sprint Cup champion?

After dominating the sport from 2006-10, Johnson and his vaunted No. 48 team have proved vulnerable the past two years. Do he and crew chief Chad Knaus have another championship in them? And how will they respond to losing the title for the first time in seven years?

Most agree that Kahne is poised for a big season with Hendrick and ready to be a title contender. But most thought that last year, too, and season one with Hendrick was somewhat of a disappointment. Kahne should be poised for a big year.

He was a consistent winner and perennial championship contender for most of his 13 years at Roush Fenway Racing. More big things are expected with Joe Gibbs Racing. But will it take him a year to adjust to a new team and new surroundings?

Stewart, who won the 2011 championship with a remarkable Chase performance, has a habit of being up one year and down the next. Last year was a down year, his three wins overshadowed by a poor performance in the Chase.

Biffle is one of the most difficult drivers to handicap. He bounced back from a winless season with two victories and a fifth-place finish in points last year. But at age 43, has his time passed to win the Sprint Cup title?

Though Truex made the Chase last year, he probably won’t get much love in preseason rankings. Why? He still hasn’t won a race since 2007 and stumbled in the Chase last year, finishing 11th in the final standings.

Logano was once considered the best thing since … well, since “sliced bread” (hence his former nickname). But Logano won just two races in four years at Joe Gibbs Racing and was replaced by Matt Kenseth.

Still just 22, he gets another golden opportunity teaming with champion Brad Keselowski at Penske Racing. Logano needs to do more with his second chance.

The only driver who is facing a more critical season than Newman and Logano is Busch, who hopes to return to elite status. Busch will try to resurrect his career with Furniture Row Racing, a single-car team with close ties to RCR.

If Busch can win a race and challenge for a Chase spot, he could be a highly sought-after free agent again.

No one will race under a brighter spotlight this year — except maybe his girlfriend — than Stenhouse. Not only is he a two-time Nationwide champion with high expectations, but his relationship with Danica Patrick will garner him plenty of unwanted attention.

At 45, Burton has a lot to prove in 2013. Once one of NASCAR’s most competitive drivers, Burton hasn’t won in four years and is coming off two of his worst seasons. He needs to return to victory lane, challenge for a Chase spot again and prove he can still get it done as his career winds to a close.

After a slow start and mostly miserable first half, Almirola showed promise at the end of last season, earning another year with Richard Petty Motorsports. He and crew chief Todd Parrott had some impressive runs late in the season.

They must keep it up for Almirola to continue to develop a Sprint Cup career.

Though he scored his first career victory in 2011, Menard has been mostly disappointing in two years at RCR. He’s in his final year of his contract and needs to step up to earn another shot with either RCR or another competitive team — though having a family-owned sponsor in his pocket likely will guarantee him a ride somewhere.

Montoya has been a big disappointment since his much-ballyhooed arrival from Formula One. He has two road-course wins and made the Chase in 2009, but, like McMurray, Montoya has been held back by the declining performance of Earnhardt Ganassi Racing.

Patrick already was going to be one of the most watched and drivers this year in her first full Sprint Cup season — now she has the added intrigue of dating a fellow driver.

Patrick and her team must hope that her relationship with Stenhouse does not become a distraction. Some — like team co-owner Tony Stewart — believe Patrick may fare better in a Sprint Cup car than people think.